Harren Hoare
King Harren Hoare '''is a major character in Book 1. He is the head of House Hoare and as such, the King of the Isles and the Rivers. With a dreaded reputation, Harren has few genuine allies and numerous enemies, most of which are kept in line solely by the fear he rules through. He has four sons, Harmund, Harlan, Harndon and Harrick, each of them from a different Salt Wife. For his cruelty and love of violence, he has received the nickname '''Harren the Black. Background As the eldest son of Halleck Hoare, second King of the Isles and the Rivers, Harren was always groomed to rule. Born in his fathers modest seat at Fairmarket, the young Harren grew up with a remarkable talent to inspire or intimidate those around him. He also showed his ambition early in his life, when he openly questioned his fathers decision to rule so close to the people around him. Still, despite his families natural cruelty, Harren also started to learn some of his more mild-mannered fathers finer traits. Halleck tried to teach his son patience and the value of mercy. Unfortunately, he died far before his time, when Harren was only twenty years old. Halleck Hoare's funeral was a major turning point in Harren's life. Aside from some of his fathers closest retainers, only he and his younger brother, Harrigon showed up to give him the last honour. The people whom Halleck had ruled all his life and whom he tried to be a good king, they did not mourn. Contrary to that, some of them even cheered on the death of a man they saw as nothing more but the son of a foreign invader. Harren was crowned as the third King of the Isles and Rivers shortly afterwards. Having learned that the people of the Riverlands will always hate his kind, he instead decided to rule with an iron fist, not counting on his subjects love, but on their fear to remain in line. His younger brother disapproved of this path, after which Harren strongly encouraged him to join the Night's Watch, where he would eventually go on to become the 971th Lord Commander. As a monument of his power, Harren ordered the construction of a gargantuan castle at the northern shore of the God's Eye, in the centre of the Riverlands. It was supposed to be the biggest castle in Westeros, a seat for thousands of generations of Hoare kings to come. Harren named the castle after himself, Harrenhal. The construction of Harrenhal would claim thousands of lives over the next forty years, as well as draining the resources of the Riverlands and the Iron Islands, fuelling major resentment against Harren, among the Riverlords and among the captains of the Iron Fleet. The king himself seemed to notice little of it. He went on to father at least four sons, Harmund, Harlan, Harndon and Harrick, most of which shared some of his more disturbing character traits. Despite the growing resistance, Harren continued to rule with an iron fist over his subjects, through intimidation and fear. Only a few months before the story started did Harren actually move into his castle, which neared its completion. Book 1 Dark Wings, Dark Words Harren was first seen at the very beginning of Book 1. At the time, he was holding court at the Great Hall of Harrenhal. A man is brought to him, who had been accused of stealing a loaf of bread. Facing the choice of losing a hand or being sent to the wall, the man pleaded for mercy, which greatly angered Harren. After beating him severely, the king ordered him to be flayed. In panic, the man started to beg to be sent to the wall, which further angered Harren. Not willing to send a new recruit to his brother, he ordered the man to be nailed to the northern wall of Harrenhal, before being flayed. This cruelty appaled the Riverlords present at the scene, though only Edmyn Tully, Lord of Riverrun, had the courage to speak up to him. Harren quickly intimidates Tully into leaving the Great Hall, though his actions inspired one of his own captains, Torvin Breaker, to start conspiring against him. Broken Vows Though not physically appearing in this chapter, Harren shortly featured in Torvin's nightmare. During this nightmare, he threatened a chained Torvin, revealing to him that he had taken his pregnant lover as his prisoner. The Iron Price After the arrival of Edward Anturion, Alisa Karstark, Carvin Granver and Alys Boleyn at Harrenhal, Harren quickly met them in his office. He was amused at Alys' attempt at acting confident and fearless in his presence, though his amusement quickly turned into rage when his squire, Adrew Frey, did a minor mistake in his presence. As the king threw a fit of rage, his yongest son, Harrick, managed to convince Alisa and Alys to leave the room for their own safety. The next day, Harren held court, to hear about the crimes his eldest son, Harmund, did in the Riverlands previously. Even though Harren was greatly displeased at Harmund's lack of subtlety, he refused to publically punish his heir. Instead, he punished Harmund's friend Rell, who was also involved in Harmund's actions. When the farmer who informed him about the crimes got greedy and demanded a reward, Harren beat him to death in front of his lords. In the meantime, Torvin Breaker had spent the past weeks to conspire with Lord Edmyn Tully and with his brother, Garthon Breaker, to kill him and all of his sons. Unbeknownst to them, Harren was informed about all of this, thanks to Lord Arrec Mallister, who betrayed the conspirators for his own personal gain. Knowing exactly when they would strike, Harren arranged for Edmyn's daughter, Dayna, to be brought to Harrenhal, where he held her as his prisoner. In order to prove to them how futile any act of resistance against him would be, Harren allowed the conspirators to make their move. Torvin, Garthon, Edmyn, as well as the soldiers Gabin Strad and George Rivers, entered his office in the company of his secondborn son, Harlan, where Harren already awaited them, together with Harrick and Edward. He revealed to them that he knew about their plan and that he had taken Dayna Tully hostage. This move forced Edmyn to back down and he accepted Harren's offer to leave peacefully, together with his daughter, Harrick and Gabin. Torvin, Garthon and George remained in the room though and despite their low chances, Torvin still tried to go through with the assassination. He managed to wound Harren and Garthon wounded him even further, when he cut his cheek with a crossbow bolt. Meanwhile, George fought against Harlan and severely wounded him, before being overpowered and killed by Edward, who managed to hold Torvin and Garthon off until Harren's captain of the guard, Kyra Greyjoy, arrived to take the Breaker brothers to the dungeons, where they were supposed to await trial for their actions. Masquerade A week after the failed assassination attempt, Harren visitsTorvin and Garthon in the dungeons, together with Kyra. He revealed that he is in a dangerous position after the botched assassination. Torvin's defiance stirred something among the Riverlords, some of which consider an open rebellion against the king. To prevent this, Harren decided to convince Torvin and Garthon to renew their loyalty to him, to destroy their images as icons of the rebellion. While Torvin firmly refused, Garthon accepted the offer and Harren kept his promise to let him go. First however, he decided to cut Garthon's cheek, in a way similar to the wound he received earlier. Later on the same day, Harren received a large portion of the Riverlords and Iron Fleet captains, to let them hear Garthon's version of the events. He also sent for Torvin and arranged. With great pleasure, he heard Garthon's story, where the assassination was played down as a mere attempt of Torvin to protect his brother. While Torvin still refused to kneel in front of Harren, the king quickly revealed a surprise. Over the last week, he had sent for Torvin's lover, Clarisse, to be delivered to Harrenhal. He also revealed that she was heavily pregnant, but that the mistreatment she suffered at the hands of Harmund caused her to miscarry. When he presented the stillborn baby and threatened Clarisse's life, he finally broke Torvin into submission. With glee, he ordered a special raid for them to repent. Together with Edward Anturion and Captain Clint Volmark, who is one of Harren's most vocal critics, they are supposed to raid the town of Raylansfair. Appearance Harren is of average height, but quite sturdy. In recent years, he has gained a bit of weight, though his origins as a fierce warrior and raider are still plainly obvious. He has the black hair and unnerving black eyes his family is known for. As a result of his advanced age, his hairline is already starting to recede and to grow thinner. Earlier attempts on his life left him with two scars on his face, spanning from the left side of his chin across his mouth, his right cheek and ending just below the ear. More recent events have left him with a second, gruesome scar on his left cheek. When Garthon Breaker shot him with a crossbow during their failed assassination attempt, he managed to cut Harren's left cheek in half. The wound has been stitched back together, but left him with a permanent sneer. As the King of the Isles and Rivers, Harren wears a simple crown, a thick golden circlet with four long, pointy spikes on top, looking like daggers. He also wears a sturdy and very heavy black armour whenever he is seen in public. Not only does it grant him protection, but he mainly wears it to intimidate those around him, especially the Riverlords. Personality Harren has a terrible reputation as a cruel and bloodthirsty tyrant and he rightfully earned it. He has a fondness for violence and a dangerously short temper. On top of that, he is intelligent, which makes his natural cruelty even worse. Most of the time, his intelligence keeps his lust for violence in line, though occasionally, his temper gets ahold of him. Harren rules solely through strength and believes that his might makes him a rightful ruler. He despises weakness, but appreciates all those who show genuine strength. In this, he also displays one of his few positive qualities: For a Westerosi, especially for an Ironborn, Harren shows a remarkable lack of sexism. He accepts women in high positions, as evidenced with him naming Kyra Greyjoy as the captain of the guard in Harrenhal. As a stern and humourless man, Harren lives solely to increase his power. He wages a constant an bloody war against the Rock, not for riches, but for sake of sheer lust for power. Aside from that, he has a morbid craving for recognition. He dreams of going into history as the greatest king who ever lives and for this, he builds the greatest castle that ever has been. His negative traits have affected everyone around him, especially his sons, who all show some characteristics similar to him and who all suffered from growing up under him, each in their own way. Relationships Harmund Hoare As his eldest son, Harmund has a special position at court. Harren has enough trust in him that he continues to keep him as his heir, though he never shows any sort of affection towards him. In turn, Harmund doesn't seem to be fond of his father either and their family name seems to be all that binds the two men together. Harren disapproves of Harmund's lack of subtletly and often asserts his dominance over him, by reminding him who really runs the kingdom. Harlan Hoare Harren has little love for Harlan, seeing him as a weak runt and a disgrace for the house. He has a history of verbally abusing him, which triggered Harlan's severe inferiority complex. In stark contrast, Harlan loves his father dearly, which is a detail Harren does not seem to care for in the slightest. Despite that, Harren reacted with anger and sorrow when Harlan nearly got killed during the failed assassination, showing that he at least cares for his sons survival. Harndon Hoare While they never interacted over the course of the story, it can be believed that Harren's opinion on Harndon is the lowest out of all of his sons, as a result of Harndon's mental illness. In fact, Harren apreciates his son just barely enough to treat him like the prince he is and he publically declared him unfit to rule. Harndon in turn is highly afraid of his cruel father and this fear had a big part of shaping him into the twisted individual he is today. Harrick Hoare In contrast to his other sons, Harren is very fond of Harrick, in his own way. Since his youngest son is by far the most stable and capable of the four, Harren has named him his advisor and has given him considerable political power, knowing fully well that Harrick will use it for the good of his house. However, from Harrick's side there is little affection for his cruel father, instead he serves him simply out of duty Torvin Breaker Torvin started off as a captain of the Iron Fleet, not on good terms with the king, but not on bad terms either. It was Harren's constant and needless cruelty that eventually disillusioned him. Harren's opinion on Torvin had always been low and he never saw him as holding particular potential, though his opinion took a considerable turn for the worse after the failed attempt on his life. He still doesn't take Torvin seriously though, seeing him as no threat at all. Edmyn Tully As the most powerful of the Riverlords, Edmyn had many confrontations with Harren. The two men utterly despise each other and Edmyn sees Harren as his mortal enemy. In turn, Harren sees the Lord of Riverrun as weak and a coward, using every opportunity to mock him and to assert dominance over him. Appearances *Does not appear in person, but plays a major role in Torvin Breaker's nightmare. Category:Characters Category:Book 1 Characters Category:Major Characters Category:House Hoare Category:Ironborn Category:Harrenhal Category:Highborn Category:Royalty